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Best sound card or audio interface for Mackie MR5's - Page 2

post #11 of 15
11/8/12 at 3:44pm
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Volume is controlled through Windows.
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post #12 of 15
11/8/12 at 3:52pm
Thread Starter 
Is there some sort of volume control I can buy or would I just be better off getting that interface?
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post #13 of 15
11/8/12 at 9:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by clockstomp View Post

I will definitely look into the Asus Xonar but how would you compare that to something like a Scarlett 2i2? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/822508-REG/Focusrite_SCARLETT_2I2_USB_Scarlett_2i2_Portable.html

So one of the primary differences would be the signal to noise ratio. SNR is measured in dB which is not a linear number. It is logarithmic so with a SNR of 100dB on that thing and a SNR of 124dB on the internal xonar and 120dB on the external xonar we are talking somewhere between 40-60x the noise on the Focusrite unit.

I would say anything above 110dB is good which I think would be 10x cleaner than 100dB.

I may be wrong on those measurements it may be much more than 10x but the bottom line is you have some very nice monitors treat them to some very nice sound.

Also please do not put any value into having XLR if the cables are less than 15FT hell if if they are less than 20FT I don't think XLR would do anything for you. Audiophiles the world over have been using "RCA" interconnects. It remains the standard in connecting audio equipment to amplifiers. Essentially your speakers are the amp.

Could you tell me your budget for this and your primary and secondary uses. So primary are a few most important things to you and secondary are things you will def be doing but not very important.

Also if your music is in Apple Loss-less or any loss-less format those monitors are going to sing.

One other thing I should ask as well: are you going to turn the volume all the way up on the monitors or are you going to use something like a dB meter and a test tone to get them set to the same level?
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post #14 of 15
11/8/12 at 9:32pm
Thread Starter 
I don't really want to spend over $150 since I already have an MBox 2 and I do occasionally make music here and there but it's not important since I can always go back to my MBox if needed. I don't really turn the volume up full blast, I just use it for normal music, games, and movies. I'd really want something with some sort of volume control so I'm kind of thinking more towards an interface. I don't really know much about audio so I don't know how to test dB levels and whatnot, I kind of just want a simple setup if possible.
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post #15 of 15
11/9/12 at 1:17pm
It's a shame that your Mbox 2 is crashing out. Have you tried getting support from the makers of the Mbox? If they can help you out with that, maybe you won't need to spend money!
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